Disappeared
by narutorox98
Summary: Takes place a year after the fight with Pain. Revised version of the original Disappeared fanfic I deleted.
1. Uzushiogakure

**Hey everyone! Sorry for suddenly deleting my fanfic Disappeared, but I was rushing it and I'm trying to break my habit of doing that. So I thought that I would delete it and start it over. It starts in Naruto's point of view. Sorry for the wait!**

Ch. 1 Uzushiogakure

It's been about three months since I left Konoha. Three months since Tsunade had given me that mission. She said to leave as soon as possible, but don't tell anyone. When I left, I was dating Sakura. We had finally gotten together. We had been dating for two months. I kissed her under a cherry blossom tree. I'm sure she's pissed at me. But I had to leave. I needed to find Sasuke. I had to bring him back to the village. But when I found him about a month and a half ago, he made it pretty clear he wasn't coming back.

_~Flashback~_

_"Sasuke," I said. "Come back to Konoha."_

_"No," he said. "Itachi is dead now, and it's their fault. I may have been the one who killed him, but it's their hands that are stained with his blood."_

_"I don't care what happened with Itachi! You're coming back to Konoha with me, whether you want to or not!" I transformed into my bijuu mode and formed a chakra bomb. I launched it at Sasuke. He dodged it. Suddenly he was right next to me with his sword unsheathed._

_"You don't care? Let's see how much you care when you're dead!" He struck me with his sword. I moved just enough so he wouldn't hit a vital spot. It was futile, though. He released chidori into my body. I knew I was going to die. Black spots started dancing in front of my eyes. "Goodbye, Naruto. This is the last time you'll hear those words come out of my mouth."_

_~End of Flashback~_

That was only half of my mission.

Now I'm at the ruins of Uzushiogakure, the home of my clan.

Why am I not dead after that fight? I could've sworn I was dead. So why am I still alive? Did Sasuke keep me alive? No, he wanted me dead. I could see it in his eyes. So who then?

Who, or whatever it was isn't important right now, though. I came here for a reason. I came here to learn about the history of the Uzumaki clan, of my clan. I was hoping to find something out about where the Uzumaki clan might have gone after Uzushiogakure was destroyed and what kind of justsu they used, but so far I haven't found anything.

Was there nothing left of the records for the Uzumaki clan here anymore? Did they take the records with them? Were all the records destroyed along with the village?

* * *

~Sakura's POV~

Naruto's been gone for three months. He never even said he was leaving. I asked Tsunade-sama about it, but she wouldn't say anything. It seemed like she knew something, but it was highly classified information. Which only got me even more interested. What secret is she hiding from me?

It must have something to do with Naruto. It has to. She wouldn't hide it from me if it didn't. Which is why I was a bit surprised when she summoned me.

"Sakura," said Tsunade-sama, as soon as I arrived in her office. "I have a mission for you."

"What is it?" I asked her.

"I want you to go to Uzushiogakure. There's something there that I want you to investigate. There's been strange behavior around there recently. There shouldn't be anyone around there, but it's not unlikely that there would be."

"Isn't Uzushiogakure just ruins now? Why does it matter if there are people around there?"

"Uzushiogakure was once a friend to Konoha. It was the home of the Uzumaki clan. They were once a well known clan that was very powerful and influencing. But during the Third Great Shinobi War, Uzushiogakure was destroyed and the Uzumaki clan was forced into hiding."

"The Uzumaki clan was that great, huh? I understand. I'll go." I understood why I should go, but I still didn't get why some ruins were so important.

"Oh, and another thing. Sai will be going with you."

"I understand. Sai and I will go to Uzushiogakure."

Not that it really made any difference to me. But when I got to Uzushiogakure, I understood why I was really sent and why Sai came, too.

**Cliffhanger! Unless you read the original Disappeared. Then you already know what happens. Which is no fun at all :( I'll have chapter 2 up as soon as I finish it!**


	2. Reunion

**Hey guys! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been really busy lately. But here's the second chapter! It's still in Sakura's POV.**

Ch. 2 Reunion

Now I understood why Tsunade-sama sent Sai and I on this mission. There he was, standing in the middle of the ruins. He's been gone for so long, and even though I thought I'd be pissed at him when I saw him, I couldn't help but smile and cry tears of joy.

"Naruto!" I yelled. I ran up to him and threw myself into his embrace.

"Sakura," he said. "And Sai, too. What are you guys doing here?"

"Tsunade sent us here," Sai replied. "She said there's been strange behavior around here recently, so she told us to look into it. Now that we're here, though, I see she had different motives. She must have wanted us to either retrieve you or join you."

"Well, seeing as how my mission isn't completed, I'm assuming she wanted you to join me." Mission? What mission was he talking about?

"What's your mission?" I asked him. He looked like he was considering whether or not he should tell us what his mission was.

"Well, part of my mission was to find Sasuke and bring him back to Konoha." He took his jacket and shirt off. Right where his heart is was a scar that looked like it had been very painful. It looked like lightning as it spread from his heart to the rest of his torso. "As you can see, that didn't go too well."

"Wh-what happened?"

"About a month and a half ago, I did find Sasuke. I tried to get him to come back, and he attacked me. He nearly stabbed me right through my heart, but I managed to avoid it. But then he released chidori into his sword, and I thought I was done for. But here I am."

Sasuke really must have hated either Naruto or Konoha a lot if he tried to kill Naruto. "If he still refuses to come back, then he's our enemy."

"I'm not ready to give up on him. I still think he'll come around. One day, he will come back to Konoha. I'll make sure of it. I'll drag him back if I have to."

"Good luck with that," a familiar voice said. "He fought Itachi and learned the truth of why Itachi wiped out the Uchihas. Now he wants vengence on Konoha for causing Itachi's death. There's no chance of him coming back now."

"Kabuto. What are you doing here?"

"That's none of your business." Then everything happened too fast to comprehend. Naruto was surrounded by a yellow aura and he disappeared. Kabuto moved faster then I remember him being able to. Suddenly Naruto was on the ground, and Kabuto stabbed him in the stomach. Naruto coughed up blood, and the yellow aura faded away.

"NARUTO!" I yelled. Kabuto jumped back with the bloody kunai and I ran to Naruto's side. He had already passed out and he was losing blood fast. I started to heal his wound as fast as I could.

* * *

~Sai's POV~

Sakura was healing Naruto's wound caused by the kunai. "You won't get away with that!" I yelled at Kabuto. I drew four lions on a scroll faster than normally possible. They came out of the scroll and attacked Kabuto. He easily slashed them and they turned back into ink. But I was right behind them. I unsheathed my tanto* and attacked him. He blocked my attack and pushed me back.

Then suddenly he was behind me and he kicked me in the back. Hard. I was sent flying. Right into a ruin.

Searing pain shot through my whole body. I tried getting up but my body wouldn't let me. All I could do was watch in horror at what happened next as I slowly began to fall unconscious.

Sakura was too busy healing Naruto to realize that Kabuto was moving to attack her. Kabuto stabbed her with the same kunai he used to wound Naruto. Blood splattered everywhere and Sakura fell right next to Naruto. Then everything went black as I fell unconcsious.

***Tanto-sword strapped on to Sai's back.**

**Hope you liked it! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I'll try to get chapter 3 up a bit faster. Review please!**


	3. Despair

**Hey guys! It's been a while since I've updated, but here's chapter 3! It's in Naruto's POV.**

Ch. 3 Despair

I woke up to bright lights searing my vision. I was in a white room, in a bed with white sheets. The hospital. That meant that I was back in Konoha.

I sat up, and Tsunade walked into the room. She saw me and rushed over. "Naruto!" she said, with a relieved tone of voice. "You're awake. We feared that-nevermind." She didn't have to finish. They thought I'd die.

"How long have I been out?" I asked.

"About three days."

"Are Sakura and Sai okay?" She flinched. Crap.

"Sai's fine. He has a nasty bruise on his back, but he'll be fine. As for Sakura, Kabuto killed her." My eyes widened in shock and horror. It must've been right after I passed out after being stabbed by Kabuto. I couldn't protect Sakura, the girl I had loved ever since I met her. Her pink hair, the way her smile lit up her eyes, I would never see it again. I would never see her again.

"I'll leave you alone for a while," Tsunade said, walking out of the room. I didn't respond. I wanted to tell her it's alright and I'd be fine, but I couldn't force myself to make the lie come out of my mouth.

Sakura was gone. Forever. I had hoped to finish my mission and return to Konoha quickly, but the Sasuke part of the mission was hindering my plans. I wanted to come back home to Sakura. I wanted to be with her, and in a few years' time, maybe settle down with her. All my plans had gone awry when Tsunade had sent Sai and Sakura after me.

Should I blame Tsunade for what happened? _No,_ I told myself. _No, that wouldn't change anything._ It wouldn't bring Sakura back.

Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door. "Who is it?" I called out.

"It's Hinata," replied a familiar, shy voice.

"Come in." She opened the door and walked in.

"Hello, N-Naruto-kun." I didn't look at her. Instead, I stared straight ahead, thinking only of how I should have never accepted that mission. _But you didn't know that would happen, _a small voice in my head told me. _It's not your fault she died, so quit blaming it on yourself. _I recognized the voice to be my conscience.

"Hello, Hinata," I finally replied. I realized that tears were streaming down my cheeks. Hinata walked over and brushed them away.

"Please don't cry, Naruto-kun. I heard about what happened. It's not your fault. So please don't blame yourself." Hearing her say that only made the tears fall faster. If it had been anyone else, or a different situation, I probably would have been embarassed. But right now, I didn't care. I needed to get my emotions out.

Hinata leaned my head against her shoulder. I didn't argue or pull away. I needed the comfort. She embraced me in a hug, and offered words of comfort. "It'll be okay. She wouldn't want you to dwell on this. She would want you to move on." I knew her words were true, but that didn't make me feel any better.

I was released from the hospital later that day. Hinata walked me home and said she'd be by to check on me tomorrow. I knew it wasn't because of my injuries. Those had healed already. She was worried about me.

I unlocked the front door to my apartment and saw that somebody had been cleaning it while I was gone. For the first time in a while, I smiled.

**There it is. I hope you liked it. Sorry it takes me so long to update. Review please!**


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